Perry County Reverses Immigration Policies, Rejects “Sanctuary” Label : Immigration Law Blog

Pennsylvania’s Perry County Jail, in a county that has persistently prolonged its help to immigration officers, has ended a five-year coverage meant to guard residents from being unconstitutionally detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Partially, the explanation county officers ended the coverage was that they didn’t relate to the “sanctuary county” designation.

County officers additional stated this isn’t going to vary the due diligence the jail makes use of when it honors an ICE detainer. “The county has at all times cooperated with immigration officers,” stated District Lawyer Andrew Bender, who additionally serves on the jail board.

Since 2014, the county had been included within the listing of sanctuary counties, as a result of it required a warrant from a choose to detain an individual who faces an ICE detainer. In 2017, the county altered its sanctuary coverage, holding that going ahead, the county would cooperate with federal regulation enforcement, Bender stated. Lastly, in 2019, the county ended its sanctuary coverage.

What Is a Sanctuary Coverage?

Whereas there is no such thing as a strong definition for a “sanctuary coverage,” counties that restrict their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement brokers are typically thought-about to be a “sanctuary county.” It’s a false impression that counties with sanctuary insurance policies don’t flip in immigrants who’ve dedicated severe crimes. Counties with sanctuary insurance policies do cooperate with federal immigration officers and can proceed to show over immigrants who’ve dedicated severe crimes.

The fundamental concept of sanctuary coverage is that the federal authorities can not compel a jurisdiction to participate in immigration enforcement. When an immigrant will get in bother with the regulation, they’re imprisoned or detained on the native county jail. Native regulation enforcement can detain an immigrant till the immigrant has been cleared of prices, posted bail, or accomplished jail time. Detaining the immigrant past that interval only for being undocumented is unconstitutional.

As soon as the immigrant is arrested, their info is entered into the federal database that’s accessed by the ICE. ICE then points a maintain, referred to as a detainer. The native regulation enforcement company adhering to the detainer holds the immigrant in custody till ICE picks them up for immigration detention.

You will need to notice that being undocumented is a civil, not a legal, violation. Which means native regulation enforcement can not arrest an undocumented immigrant if the immigrant has not dedicated any crime. However ICE could make such arrests.

Additional, cities with sanctuary insurance policies proceed to be secure and economically vibrant, in accordance with a 2020 research. One other false impression is that sanctuary cities don’t flip in immigrants, or that they protect them from deportation. The regulation enforcement of sanctuary cities doesn’t conceal or shelter undocumented immigrations from detention.

In regards to the Galarza Case

In Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Ernesto Galarza, a U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican descent, was held by native police for 3 days primarily based solely on an ICE detainer and and not using a warrant. ICE erroneously ordered his detention, believing he was an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic. On his launch, Galarza sued each the native police division and the federal authorities. The case was settled in 2014 when the court docket dominated that ICE detainers weren’t orders from the federal authorities. Native officers have the ability to withstand compliance primarily based on their very own info and judgment.

The Galarza case had ripple results on a number of native municipalities in Pennsylvania, altering their immigration insurance policies. By 2015, 47% of counties within the state had written or unwritten insurance policies limiting cooperation with ICE detainers. The Perry County jail board additionally enacted a coverage the place the county requires a warrant from a choose to honor ICE detainers. Any mistake that ICE commits in figuring out an immigrant exposes native regulation enforcement to legal responsibility for the illegal detention.

To study extra about this weblog publish or when you have some other immigration issues, please be at liberty to contact me at rglahoud@norris-law.com or (484) 544-0022.